"What… where am I?" Coggy sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "This isn't Dalaran. Last thing I remember…"
"Well met, hero!" A voice boomed beside her.
Coggy screamed and jumped a foot in the air - quite the feat for a gnome knee-high to a human.
"Oh, I am sorry. I did not mean to startle you."
Coggy spun around and stared at the man who had spoken to her. He was a short bearded man wearing the telltale golden armor of a Paladin.
"My name is Uther the Lightbringer," the man continued. "I can see by your robes that you are a priest. It is a pleasure to meet another devotee of the Light in this strange place."
Coggy glared upward at Uther. "You can call me Coggy. And I am a priest, but not of the Light. I follow my own religion, based on good-old gnomish ingenuity!" Coggy stamped her feet. She was used to dealing with human knuckleheads who assumed being a priest meant being a priest of the Light, but it still annoyed her.
"Ah. A shame. All the same, welcome to the Nexus, Coggy."
"The Nexus? That Blue Dragonflight place in Northrend? Impossible!" Coggy gestured wildly around them. "There's grass here!"
Uther looked confused. "Err… no. The Nexus is its own dimension, where heroes from every world come to do battle!"
Coggy grimaced. "Ugh. And what if I don't want to fight? How do I get back to Azeroth?"
"You… you can't. We're stuck here. No one knows how, or why. Mages can't cast city portals, warlocks can't perform the ritual of summoning… we're isolated."
"Lovely," grumbled Coggy. She stared off into the distance a moment, thinking, then she suddenly snapped her attention back to Uther. "Wait… did you say you were Uther the Lightbringer? I know you! I visited your tomb in the Western Plaguelands. And I saw your soul at Icecrown Citadel! How in the name of machinery are you alive?!"
"My… soul?" asked Uther hesitantly. "I don't think I want to hear that particular tale. In any case, it would not surprise me to learn that you are from my future. The Nexus seems able to take heroes from any time, as well as place."
That grabbed Coggy's attention. "It can mess with the timestream? Does the Bronze dragonflight know about this place?"
"Indeed," Uther added, nodding. "They sent their own representative to the Nexus to investigate. Her name is Chromie, and she usually takes the mortal form of a gnome, like you. She doesn't have any answers, though, and now she's trapped in the same cycle of warfare the rest of us are."
"Hmm…" Coggy scratched at her bright red pigtails like she usually did while deep in thought.
A bell clanged in the distance.
"My, we've run out of time," Uther declared. "Your tutorial battle is about to begin. Follow me!"
Uther walked away.
"Hey, wait!" Coggy called, then scampered after the Paladin. "Tutorial battle? What do you mean?"
"The Nexus pulls in a new hero about once a month. They get a tutorial game to introduce them to their new power level. The Nexus balances us all, you see, so no hero is too much more powerful than any other, which means your increased or decreased power level can take some getting used to."
Coggy furrowed her brow. "Wait, I've lost some of my powers?" She stopped, closed her eyes, and reached out to Uther with her mind. Nothing. Her eyes flew open. "What in the name of machinery? I can't cast mind vision!"
"Yes, I can't cast many of my paladin spells either," Uther replied patiently.
"This is an outrage!" Coggy declared, her face contorted in rage. "I slew the Lich King! I killed Deathwing! I've destroyed two old gods! I've saved the world more times than I can count, and I can count really high! I demand respect!"
Uther smiled at the gnome as one might smile at the tantrum of a child. "My friend, everyone the Nexus has taken deserves respect. Or fear. But the Nexus won't give it. We have been forced into perpetual warfare. Might as well get used to it. Enjoy your tutorial battle while you can. Fights will soon grow far more difficult."
Coggy harrumphed. "I'm the greatest gnome to ever live. I'll find a way to escape."
"You're welcome to try," Uther smiled patronizingly.
Coggy knew he looked at her like a child. Like most humans looked at gnomes. Judging her by her size. She hated it.
Coggy stormed off towards the battleground. Uther followed.
After a few minutes, Coggy came out of the forested trail into a large stone-paved clearing filled with a swirling blue light. When she stepped into the light, she began to feel more awake and rejuvenated.
"Ah. Healing magic," Coggy pronounced.
"Indeed," Uther replied, following her into the light. "This chamber is the Hall of Storms. Your hearthstone is now attuned to this location. You can use it during battle to return for healing, before jumping back into the fray."
"My hearthstone?" That was when Coggy realized she was no longer wearing her backpack. All of her items, her loot, her companion pets… gone. She rummaged around in her robes, and found that there were only two items she had been allowed to retain: her hearthstone, and her mount whistle, stored in different robe pockets. She quickly channeled her hearthstone's magic to test Uther's words. Indeed, she could feel that it was no longer attuned to her home on Azeroth. The magic now called it only to the clearing she currently stood in. Well, that was one escape plan foiled before it could begin.
"Ah, and here come our allies for this battle," Uther called out.
Coggy looked around, and saw three bodies materialize in the clearing around her. It wasn't as though they had exited a portal or anything. They simply weren't there, then there was a flash of light, and then they were there. It was strange.
"Well met, friends. I am glad to see you will be joining us for this battle," Uther called out to them.
A strange hooded being stepped forward. He was covered in white and gold plate armor, with shimmering bright blue wings spreading out behind him. The closest thing Coggy had ever seen to such a being was one of the Val'kyr. But this creature sported a body built like a male, and there was only darkness under the hood where his face was supposed to be.
"A pleasure to fight alongside you as always, Uther," the being spoke, his voice reverberating throughout the clearing. Then he looked at Coggy. "I take it this is our newest hero. I look forward to taking the measure of you."
Coggy scowled. "Is that a short joke? Measure me? I'd like to see you try, you giant… thing!"
The being cocked his head. "Interesting."
"Oh, don't mind him," came a voice right beside Coggy's ear.
"Aieee!" Coggy yelped and jumped a foot in the air again, before whirling around to look for the source of the voice. No one was there.
Then Coggy's eyes widened as the empty space shimmered and materialized into a blonde human woman in a tight-fitting outfit made of some fancy material Coggy didn't recognize.
"Sorry," the woman said, though she was smiling. "Forgot I was cloaked."
Coggy looked at her suspiciously.
"Now now, pardners," drawled a deep voice. This time, Coggy was able to identify the source as the incredibly well-armored man standing beside the golden being. Seriously, he was better armored than any tank Coggy had ever run a dungeon with. There weren't even any chinks – his body was completely covered. "We're all on the same team, here," he continued. "Way I see it, we should introduce ourselves. Name's Jim Raynor. Pleasure to meet ya." The man extended an ogre-sized hand in Coggy's direction.
Coggy stared at it, then extended her own hand, grabbed one of his fingers, and shook it. "Coggy," she said.
"My name's Nova," said the blonde, one hand on her hip and the other carrying a long gizmo Coggy wasn't familiar with. "But I'm not interested in making friends when we'll have to be killing one another soon enough."
"I thought we were on the same team?" Coggy asked, confused.
"We are for this match," Uther answered patiently. "But in the next match we may be enemies."
Coggy furrowed her brow. "That's… odd. Next you'll be telling me I'll have to fight alongside members of the Horde! Could you imagine?"
"Err…" Uther stammered. "We fight alongside the Horde quite often, actually. Sylvanas, Thrall, even Gul'dan. Allies and enemies seem to be selected randomly from the pool of heroes."
"WHAT?" Coggy exploded. "This is not acceptable! Gul'dan in particular is the farthest thing from a hero I can imagine! I refuse to ever work alongside him!"
"I understand how you feel, friend," spoke the golden being. "My name is Tyrael, Angel of Justice! And justice demands the deaths of the prime evils a thousand times over. But I cannot live up to my title, for I have many times been forced to work alongside Diablo himself."
Coggy scoffed. "How could anyone possibly force you to work alongside your enemies?"
"By punishing defeat. Harshly," Uther replied, eyes downcast.
"If our team loses, we get tortured," Nova said, staring at Coggy with cold eyes. "After a taste of that, enemies are willing to work together to avoid the pain."
Coggy's disproportionately large eyes widened. "If we lose, we get… tortured?"
No one replied.
"Fine." Coggy threw her stubby hands up in the air. "I guess we'll just have to win, then. When does the match start?"
"Less than a minute," answered Nova. "We should take our positions. I'll be roaming between the top and mid lanes."
"Sounds like a plan," Raynor replied. "I reckon I can guard the bottom lane."
"I'll ensure the top lane does not fall to our enemies even when Nova cannot join me," Tyrael declared.
Uther nodded. "And Coggy and I will take the middle lane." He leaned over me. "Stay close, lass. I'll keep you alive."
Coggy rolled her eyes. "I am a priest, you know. I can heal myself."
"All the same," Uther replied. "This plan seems safest. Tyrael and Raynor can each hold a lane without help. Nova, you, and I don't have the waveclear to be alone."
"Waveclear?" Coggy thought, confused. She wasn't one to let others know that a gnome didn't understand something, though. What a disgrace that would be.
"Fine. You're the expert here," Coggy responded, scowling.
"Great. Follow me," Uther said, as he walked out of the healing magic into a large stone-paved plaza surrounded by buildings and walls.
Coggy followed, as he walked through a large gate, past another building, and up to a strange-looking wall. On the way, Nova, Raynor, and Tyrael departed for other gates.
Then, Coggy heard a dark voice begin to count down. "10, 9, 8…"
"Ready, lass?" Uther asked over the countdown.
Coggy nodded, but her wobbling knees betrayed the truth.